Barely two days after making the policy change, Twitch has walked back its controversial “artistic nudity” rules.
Effective today Twitch is rolling back the artistic nudity changes, and depictions of real or fictional nudity won’t be allowed on the site, regardless of the medium. However, the change doesn’t apply to Mature-rated games. There will also be emote-specific standards for nudity and sexual content.
In a new blog post CEO Dan Clancy explained the decision by saying, “Much of the content created has been met with community concern. These are concerns we share. Upon reflection, we have decided that we went too far with this change. Digital depictions of nudity present a unique challenge–AI can be used to create realistic images, and it can be hard to distinguish between digital art and photography.”
The original change came in the wake of “topless streams” that had started trending on the platform, and after the new policy was put in place on Wednesday, Twitch was overrun with explicit streams in the art category.
Twitch has long been trying to find a middle ground for sexual content that can appeal to both creators and the community. In the blog post Clancy says ” For years, through UserVoice and in conversations, we heard from artists that our content policies were limiting. In making this update, we were trying to be responsive to these requests and allow the thriving artist community on Twitch to utilize the human form in their art.
Clancy then notes that much of the content made under the new policy was allowed, but there was also a sizable amount that broke the new guidelines, which Twitch has been trying to remove. It’s hard to think this is the last we’ll see of the policy, but for now, Twitch seems resolute on reversing it. Clancy ends the post by saying
“While I wish we would have predicted this outcome, part of our job is to make adjustments that serve the community. I apologize for the confusion that this update has caused.
